With You By My Side
by Harmony-Tragedy
Summary: Callie Torres, a Lieutenant in the Naval Reserves, thinks she has the perfect life. That is, until an injury takes that life away from her and she has to start from scratch.
1. Chapter 1

With You By My Side

A/N: Hey guys! This is my first Calzona fic, and I know I haven't finished my other glee fic, but I had to get this idea out of my head first! There is no beta so all mistakes are mine. Please review if you'd like me to continue down this line!

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, all rights go to Rhimes and ABC.

"Don't give me that look. I'll be back before you know it, and you'll be here with Aunty Christina and you'll be just fine. Trust me."

"Callie, please. You're embarrassing yourself. Just go. Two weeks and you'll come home, he can make it"

"Yeah, yeah I know..." Callie reached into the back seat one more time and scratched her golden retriever puppy behind the ear. "All right, Zeus. Be good for Christina, okay?"

Zeus could only look up at her with big, sad, brown eyes.

"Stop looking at me like that!" Callie sighed as she got out of the car. The cold, humid, Seattle air hit her full force and she filled her lungs with the crisp air, knowing she would soon be breathing in the smell of old ship metal and sweat for the next two weeks.

Dressed in her full working uniform, she was an imposing figure. A tall, authoritative, Lieutenant, with a don't take shit from anyone attitude.

Callie enlisted in the Navy Reserve immediately after high school, and used their programs to help her get through college. When she graduated she began training to become a Naval Aviator. Now, looking back, there was nothing she would change. She loved her job, loved her life, and was happy to serve her country.

Callie approached the back of Christina's car and yelled to her, "Christina, pop the damn trunk already!"

Christina groaned and opened her door to reach for the trunk release. As it poped open, she rose to her feet and made her way to lean against the side of the back door as Callie unloaded everything. Christina watched her roommate and one of her closest friends, again unload her seabag, a disgusting shade of green, filled with even more unattractive uniforms, in Christina's opinion.

Zeus put his nose to the back window and barked at Christina with an expectant look. Christina simply rolled her eyes and pushed off the window to walk towards Callie, who was now standing on the sidewalk at the airport, with a much more solemn look on her face.

"So here we go again, huh?" Christina suggested with a facade of indifference.

"Yeah, here we go" Callie breathed out nervously and chuckled

"I'll see you when you come back, and I'll try to take care of your little brat too" Christina shrugged and began walking back to the driver door.

"Christina, wait!"

"What?"

"Don't be a bitch while I'm gone." Callie smiled and Christina's expression softened a bit as well.

"You know me, Cal. But I'll try for you. And Cal?"

"Yeah?"

"I uhh... Need your rent money so don't get hurt, okay?"

Callie cracked a smile, which Christina returned. "I promise. And I love you too."

With a final smile and a wave, Christina got back in the car and drove off, with Zeus hanging his head out the back window, looking at Callie.

Callie waved at the fleeting car and looked down at her bag. 'Leaving doesn't get harder, but it sure never gets any easier either' she thought to herself.

Taking one last look at the city she loved, the tall brunette slung her sea-green bag over her shoulder and made her way into the airport, holding her head high.

She got her ticket, and passed through security to wait at in the lobby of her terminal. She set her carry on bag on the seat next to her while waiting for her flight to board. She flipped open her phone one more time and smiled at the picture on her screen.

The photo was of a sunny day when her, Christina, and Zeus had gone to the park only a few days after getting him. Christina may have pretended to hate the puppy, but in this picture Zeus had hopped into her lap and was licking her face and Christina was fighting back a smile. The photo was snapped at the perfect time and showed the Christina who Callie knew.

They had been roommates since college and were unbreakable friends, a friendship Callie valued higher than her own life. They had helped each other through break ups, mourning, and Christina had been a vital support when Callie had come out to her family. Her father had taken it well, but her mother still refused to acknowledge any of her relationships with past girlfriends.

It had been painful in the beginning, but when "don't ask, don't tell" was repealed, she didn't need to hide anymore. She could be out with her family, and with her team, and that's what mattered to her.

Lying to her CO's had always scared her when she was an Ensign, but as a Lieutenant, in command of her own women, lying to them made her feel guilty. What trust could she foster if she couldn't be honest about her life?

She thought of how lucky she was overall. A great job, a great apartment, great friends. Callie knew she was blessed. Before the brunette could get even more lost in her thoughts, a woman over the loudspeaker announced that it was time for her section to begin boarding.

Lt. Torres picked up her small carry bag and rose to stand in line.

One man called out from behind her and asked "Where are you going, Lieutenant?"

"Reporting for 2 weeks of mobilization, sir" she answered, turning to meet the man. He was an older gentleman, in his 70s, wearing a USS Bismark cap with the marks of a 3rd Class Petty Officer.

"You are doing us all a favour, officer. Thank you", the man said as threw her a small salute.

"Your service was just as valuable, sir. Thank you,"Callie smiled as she returned the salute and smiled brightly.

She approached the desk and handed her ticket to the man who checked it and handed it back to her without looking up."Thank you," she replied as she took her ticket back.

Then she quietly made her way down the tunnel that connected to the door of the small plane that would inevitably take her from her safe Seattle apartment to the unpredictable, rough, flight deck of the USS Makin Island.


	2. Chapter 2

With You By My Side

Chapter 2

A/N: While most of my ships/squadrons/and Naval grades are correct, some of my information may be incorrect or there may be some inconsistency with Naval policies regarding women serving or my day to day recounts may be inaccurate. I apologize for this, and I am doing by best to back my story up with facts. Please don't take offense if something is wrong. Also, I got very low reviews for the first chapter of this, so depending on results from this, I might discontinue this story. So if you want to see this continued, please remember to review.

Callie awoke to the bugle playing taps over the loudspeaker of her small quarters. She had already been there for a week, and was finally settling in well. Her roommate was already awake, getting dressed for their early flight at 0900.

Lt. Torres and her current bunkmate, Jr. Lt. Hilary Mason, were both members of the Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 84, also known as the Red Wolves. They specialized in Special Warfare support and Combat Search and Rescue. For these two weeks, Lt. Torres and Jr. Lt. Mason would be training for Search and Rescue and Extractions from various battlefields and environments. For today, a squad of marines had gone dark when they were dropped during a midnight insertion, and Callie and Mason were to go drop a team of Marines to look for them. Luckily, there were in friendly areas and chances were good for a full recovery of all team members.

Callie got up and began to change into her working uniform. She knew Mason wasn't exactly a morning person, so Callie dressed in silence, waiting for Mason to start the conversation.

"So, Lt. Torres" Mason paused and yawned "Briefing starts at 0745 in the classroom below the flight deck, the one near the officers mess. I'm going to head out now because I have a dentists appointment first. We can't all be lucky reservists, some of us are stuck here."

"Yeah, well they only called me here because I'm the best damn heli pilot they've got, Mason. Rockstar here."

"Yeah, so they called you out for a bunch of missing marines in training?" Mason quipped with a smile

"Yeah well, apparently they didn't trust you for the job" Callie smiled back, as Mason took on a fake hurt expression. "Now stop your bitching and let's go find our mini-marines"

Callie righted her uniform, as Mason circled to check. "Alright, Cal, you look good. I've gotta go, I'll meet you outside the classroom."

"Alright, Mase. Good luck" Callie waved her off as she straightened out her uniform in the mirror. She admired the sharp collar and the deep blue colors. There was nothing she loved more than wearing her blue digis and serving her country. The smell of the Navy was always one she held close to her heart, almost as much as the air from Seattle. But that memory had been long since faded away. The stresses of her everyday work aboard the ship didn't allow for many fond memories of home.

Callie moved about the ship before her brief, meeting with various officers in the mess hall for breakfast and chatting about current events and sucking up to the higher ranking officers.

Once done with her meal, she set off to find one of her friends who she heard as stationed on the ship for his final tour. Callie made her way to the medical wing, peeking into all the ORs and offices until she found who she was looking for. She knocked on the door and opened it slowly.

_"Lieutentant Sloane?" she called into the office._

_Marks head shot up quickly as soon as he heard that familiar voice. "Well, if it isn't my favourite girl?" Sloane returned as he stood up. "I was wondering when you'd come find me. Couldn't stay away, huh?" he said with his classic smirk._

_Callie gently pushed Marks arm before giving him a hug. "You know you aren't my type Mark, will you ever stop trying?" Callie smiled at his antics._

_"Hi, Dr. Sloane? I'm Ensign Torres. I've got a pretty severe laceration and they told me to come see you?"_

_"Hello Torres, nice to meet you. They sent you to the right place. Where are you injured?"_

_Callie held her arm out and winced slightly as Mark touched it. Her forearm had a thin but deep gash on the posterior side, about four inches long._

_"You'll probably need stitches for this." He said, looking at the wound. "Good thing it's not on that beautiful face of yours" Sloane added with a wink._

_Callie blushed lightly and laughed "Why, thank you Dr. Sloane"_

_Mark smiled with his signature smirk "so, how did you do this, Torres?"_

_"I...uh... Fell."_

_"You fell? And caused this cut? I don't think so. What happened, Torres?"_

_"I fell." Callie deadpanned._

_"Ah, so you aren't going to tell me. If this is your version of playing hard to get, you don't have to. If you want this, you only have to ask." He winked again and Callie rolled her eyes._

_"Dr. Sloane, please. I'm not interested. And I'm sure I'm not the first one to tell you that" Callie snapped back_

_"Hey, hey. Calm down, I like a little biting, but you don't have to chew my head off" Mark said, still smirking, obviously proud of himself._

_Callie was tired of playing this game. "You really want to know how I got this scar?" She said, putting on her best seductive air and leaning in close._

_"Yeah, I do" Mark answer, falling for Callies trap and leaning in._

_Callie smirked and whispered ,"Someone pushed me up against a wall. And while they were ripping off my uniform, one of my pins cut my arm. Is that what you wanted to hear?" As she finished, her lips were inches from Marks expectant ones._

_Marks eyes lit up with hope, and that's when Callie pounced. "Oh, and by someone, I meant she. You don't have a chance. Back off" Callie finished with a sickeningly sweet smile._

_"Well played, Torres" Mark said, looking disappointed._

"Don't knock it til you've tried it" he threw back with a wink. "So what brings you here?"

"Just serving my two weeks. They sent me here, and I'm being briefed on a mission to drop some marines to find some other marines that went missing on a training last night. Privates too. Those boys are probably scared out of their minds. Went missing last night, and we couldn't do a night mission because we were too afraid to lose our new guys as well. Land drop."

"And what brings you to my office?" he said again, with a knowing look.

"Please?" Callie asked, with pleading eyes and a childish, expectant look. "Please please please?"

"...I've got a boy with a dislocated shoulder, you can watch me pop it back in. Deal?"

"Yes!" Callie shouted, pumping her fist in the air excitedly. "Where is he?"

"He's not coming in for another 45 minutes. Don't you have a briefing to go to anyways?" He asked, checking the time.

"Awww, yeah I do. Ugh." Callie drooped her shoulders in disappointment.

"You know," Mark began, "you're only a reservist. You could still do medical school, become an orthopedic surgeon and still stay enlisted. Best of both worlds." Sloan had pitched this idea to Callie numerous times, and she rejected it with the same logic she did every time.

"The navy is my life, it's all I know. I don't have four years to study medicine, nor do I want to. Now, I have to go find my marines. I'll find you when I come back." Callie made her way to the door

"See you, Torres." 'That girl is wasting her time here, she should be in ortho.' Sloane thought to himself as he watched Callies retreating figure.

Once out of Sloanes office, Callie took a moment to consider what he had said. She could be happy in ortho, but not if it meant she wouldn't be a sailor anymore. Maybe she could do reservist work and still have time for school, since she wasn't doing anything else outside of it. 'Maybe', she thought to herself, but shrugged it off as she made her way to the briefing room for her newest assignment.

"Mase. You ready?"

"As I'll ever be"

Callie took one more look at the rough seas below the deck, before giving her thumbs up to the other sailors, scurrying around in their color coded vests.

She flipped on her blades and wanted for Mase to do the same. Then she carefully guided her controls until she was hovering at a safe height. Once she saw her altimeter was good, she began heading in the direction for the last known coordinates of her missing men.

There were 5 other marines, members of another training squad, who would be sent in to do a quick locate and evacuate mission. Contact had remained, although it was spotty, with the commander of the group. He had said all were safe, and that he would like to continue the mission as part of training, if they were going to learn to to night insertions, they need to learn what it's like when they don't go so well.

Despite this not being typical protocol, he was granted access to continue on the grounds that this was a special forces training unit.

With an ETA of about 20 minutes, Lt. Torres was well on her way to be wrapped up with this mission by 1030, seeing as she didn't have to wait for them to find the team, only to drop the marines off and have Mason landed near by so she could easily get to the extraction point when the smoke was thrown.

Her flight went smooth, and her drop was, as always, perfect. Once establishing a safe landing for the search team, Callie turned around and began making her way back to the ship.

Her flight was going well, until suddenly, one of her signals began beeping. She checked her gauges and saw her engine temperature had shot up and was continuing to rise. Alarmed, she radioed in to tell them about the change.

"It seems I'm having some type of technical trouble in my craft. Permission to land upon arrival?"

"Roger, we will keep your landing space clear. Bring it back safe"

"Yes, sir" Callie replied as the ship became visible on the horizon. She nervously kept one eye on her gauges as she put the heli down. She was hovering above the platform and descending slowly, noticing the more pressure she put on the throttle, the higher her temp gauge went.

As she was only 15 feet off the ground, her engine began to smoke and before Callie could react, her craft exploded.

* * *

><p>"Dr. Robbins!" Christina yelled down the hallway to the blonde peds surgeon as she rolled down the hallway. 'I can't believe I'm actually doing this...'<p>

Hearing her name being called, Arizona made a complete circle in her roller shoes and rolled back to Christina.

"I'm surprised to see you here, Yang. What's up?"

"Well, I'm not in cardio right now, so I need..." Ring. Ring. "Hold on, let me take this" Christina finished with a confused look on her face. She was getting a call from Dr. Sloane, a man she had only been in contact with once, and only kept his number should she need to butter up the world renowned plastic surgeon.

"Dr. Sloane?"

"Yang. It's Callie. She's been in an accident. You're her contact. She's stable, but will need to be taken to a hospital. She hasn't woken up yet and there is some brain damage. Where do you want her to go?"

"What? She hasn't woken up? What are you talking about?"

"Christina, please. Where do we take her?"

"Seattle Grace. To Dr. Shepard." Christina clicked her phone closed and looked at Arizona again. "I'm sorry, you'll have to excuse me"

"Ummm. Okay!" Arizona shouted as Christina dashed down the hallway. 'I wonder what that was about. It sounds like her friend was in an accident or something. I hope whoever it is is okay..' Arizona thought to herself as she wheeled away to check on her next patient.


End file.
